People who are throwing fits over Colleen McCullough ‘ s sexist obituary have probably never read her extraordinarily sexist books. McCullough made a brand out of her hatred of women.
It is only fitting that, in death, she would be remembered through the lens of the worldview she dedicated her life to promoting.
I read Thornbirds at the age of 11 and will never forgive McCullough for making me wonder whether being a woman was really as horrifying and disgusting as she was making it out to be.
Oh rest assured, Clarissa – feminists have avenged themselves 100 fold. The publishing houses have fallen to the pink shirts, and now every second novel is a pulpit for feminists, or homosexuals, or for Marxists to preach through their fables.
A little of that is fine I suppose – but unfortunately it is so bad now that I absolutely refuse to buy fiction published by women and authors that I know have fallen to political correctness. I’m sorry – but I cannot abide the dreck written by soft, sheltered, pampered women that write about strong independent self made female characters – that are often reduced to pointless emoting during the story. As some wag once put it – it’s like reading books by rabbits about being wolves.
Oh I still get burned once in awhile by social justice authors wanting to grind an axe with society – but refusing to buy material written by women has reduced the stinkers on my reading list by about 70%.
The thornbirds may or may not have sucked…but I can tell you the dreck that has replaced it isn’t any better and if anything – it is getting worse.
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You seem socially adjusted.
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I read a couple of her novels set in ancient Rome. They were enjoyable and since ancient Rome was very patriarchal I didn’t notice this hatred of women you mentioned. Could you give us some examples from the Thornbirds?
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Thornbirds is about a woman who spends her entire life pining for a Catholic priest and seeing it as a great honor when he condescends to have sex with her. And that’s all there is, pretty much. She sits there, waiting for the priest to pay attention. Hundreds of pages and nothing else whatsoever, just this completely debased, pathetic woman.
I’d never encountered this degree of debasement and humiliation of women in real life. Even my aunts who were victims of domestic violence were not nearly as spineless as this Meggie person. I was shocked to discover that this kind of beaten-down womanhood could even exist.
It was also very annoying to read about these mothers who hate their daughters and are in love with their sons on a creepy way.
The whole thing is just creepy in the extreme.
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This story is way more misogynist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Piano
Anyway, what can you do?
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This was a deeply disturbing movie. I only watched a small part but was too grossed out to see it in full.
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I remember seeing it and going WTF? I saw it during a time when I was imposing a severe level of discipline on myself not to give patriarchal types any part of me they could grab hold of. I was very vulnerable at that time, under attack from the left and right, and I just thought all I could do was to be extremely self-disciplined and hold myself together.
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Almost all the fiction I read nowadays is sf/fantasy by women and mostly women of color. Notably, Nalo Hopkinson, Nnedi Okorafor, N. K. Jemisin, and Franetta McMillian. I will renew my prediction that Nnedi Okorafor will someday will someday win the Nobel for Literature.
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The Nobel is already discredited enough without fantasy. 🙂
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A conservative literary critic and college professor
Clarissa's Blog 
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